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About this quote

What does it mean?
Shakespeare always has faults; finding some good lines does not disprove this.
In plain terms
Shakespeare has faults in every six lines; finding good ones does not disprove it.
What can you take from it?
General rules persist despite exceptions.

Where it applies

  • literary critique
  • debating art
  • evaluating standards

Putting it to work

  • critiquing art
  • debating standards

Questions to consider

  • Does one fault ruin art?
  • How do we judge consistency?

Another view

It may overlook the overall quality of the work.

More from Samuel Johnson

  1. So far is it from being true that men are naturally equal, that no two people can be half an hour together, but one shall acquire an evident superiority over t…

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  2. It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time.

    Permalink to quote #133
  3. Why, Sir, it is difficult to settle the proportion of iniquity between them.

    Permalink to quote #130

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